GROS ISLET, St Lucia: Sri Lankan opener Marvan Atapattu made the most of an inexperienced West Indies attack when he cracked an impressive 108 not out on the opening day of the first Test here on Friday (partially reported yesterday).

He struck 13 fours in his 11th Test century as Sri Lanka posted 250 for 4 at stumps in their first innings after electing to bat at the Beausejour Stadium, hosting its maiden Test.

Thilan Samaraweera was not out on seven when rain stopped play with 2.5 overs remaining before the scheduled draw of stumps. Atapattu, 32, reached his hundred in the closing overs when he hit debutant fast bowler Jerome Taylor for a four. Playing his 64th Test, Atapattu put on 108 for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (56) to prop up the innings after Sri Lanka had lost out-of-form opener Sanath Jayasuriya (8).

West Indies skipper Brian Lara then failed to find wicket-taking bowlers for nearly three hours as Atapattu and Sangakkara applied themselves well to consolidate their team's position.

Lara used seven bowlers, but none could strike at the right time on an easy-paced track as one wicket each fell in the first two sessions and two in the last.

Paceman Mervyn Dillon was the only seasoned bowler, but went wicketless despite bowling well in his opening spell and then troubling Mahela Jayawardene (45) for a brief period. Of the specialist bowlers, paceman Corey Collymore (2-41) was playing only his second Test and off-spinner Omari Banks his third.

Taylor, who turns 19 on Sunday (today), made an unimpressive debut as he conceded 76 runs in 18 overs. It was part-time spinner Chris Gayle who eventually broke the second-wicket stand in the afternoon session, but not before Atapattu and Sangakkara had put their team on course for a healthy total.

Sangakkara, who traded a few words with Lara over running on to the pitch, was trapped leg-before after reaching his 11th half-century in 29 Tests. He also became the ninth Sri Lankan to complete 2,000 Test runs during his 101-ball knock.

The West Indies' ordeal did not end after Sangakkara's dismissal as Jayawardene added 68 for the third wicket with Atapattu. He was caught by Lara off Banks after a brief interruption due to rain. Skipper Hashan Tillakaratne (13) inside-edged a Collymore delivery on to his stumps, but there was no stopping Atapattu who continued to gather runs comfortably against both pace and spin.

The West Indies' lone success in the morning came through Collymore, who returned to the squad after playing his only Test in 1999 against Australia in Antigua.

Jayasuriya, who failed to score a half-century in three one-dayers against the hosts recently, cut an awaygoing delivery from Collymore straight to Banks at gully. Sangakkara and Atapattu then frustrated the West Indies as they took no risks during their partnership, patiently waiting for the loose deliveries to punish.

Atapattu reached his half-century in the afternoon when he turned Taylor to fine-leg for his seventh four and went on to defy the West Indies attack with his solid knock.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka won toss

Sri Lanka 1st Inns

M S Atapattu not out 108

S T Jayasuriya c Banks b Collymore 8

K C Sangakkara lbw b Gayle 56

D P M D Jayawardene c Lara b Banks 45

*H P Tillakaratne b Collymore 13

T T Samaraweera not out 7

Extras (b4, lb1, nb6, w2) 13

Total (4 wkts, 87.1 overs) 250

Did not bat: +R S Kaluwitharana, K S Lokuarachchi, W P U J C Vaas, M Muralitharan, R A P Nissanka

Fall: 1-19, 2-127, 3-195, 4-228

Bowling: Dillon 17-3-36-0; Collymore 15.1-1-41-2; Taylor 18-1-76-0; Hinds 1-0-1-0; Banks 25-5-60-1; Gayle 8-0-22-1; Samuels 3-0-9-0

West Indies

C H Gayle, W W Hinds, D Ganga, *B C Lara, R R Sarwan, +R D Jacobs, C D Collymore, O A C Banks, M Dillon, M N Samuels, J E Taylor

Test debut: Jerome Taylor (West Indies)

Umpires: D J Harper (Australia) and B F Bowden (New Zealand). TV umpire: B Doctrove. Match-referee: Wasim Raja (Pakistan)